John Denham: On October 14, I informed Parliament about my plan to reinvigorate and connect with those communities that are feeling the pressure from recession most acutely and ensure they are well placed to share fully in future prosperity and emerge stronger and more cohesive. On 14 December I extended the programme beyond the initial 21 local authorities to 75.
	I can today inform Parliament that I am announcing a further extension of the programme to bring the total number of areas receiving targeted help in addressing local issues to 161 across over 100 local authorities.
	I am also announcing an additional £20 million of resources for the programme to continue in the next financial year.
	The programme is enabling local people to influence, shape and change policies on issues which really matter in their community. It will help to make sure that those people who are feeling the pressure the most are getting bigger say and a fair deal.
	Practical actions delivered on estates and streets will focus making changes that address local people's concerns, reconnect them with jobs and tackle head on issues-real and perceived-which left neglected can prove fertile territory for extremism and those who would divide our communities.

Edward Miliband: I represented the United Kingdom at the EU Informal Environment Council in Seville on 16 and 17 January 2010.
	The Council programme began with a session on the role of civil society post -Copenhagen. Short speeches from industry, trade union and civil society representatives were followed by ministerial discussion which highlighted the importance of Government, companies, NGOs and civil society working together.
	The second item covered environmental governance and technological co-operation which included presidency questions on mercury, international environmental governance and the sixth Environmental Action Programme. The session opened with two presentations from UNEP and the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. In discussions on international negotiations on mercury, the UK intervened to call on the EU to proceed with caution in seeking to broaden the scope of the legal instrument, in order not to stall the intergovernmental negotiating Committee process. In addition, several member states showed support for the UK view on the need to reform the current international environmental governance system. In relation to the sixth EAP, the UK indicated that any new framework must be based on a comprehensive assessment of where we are now, what will be the challenges of the next 10 years and what are the most appropriate mechanisms to address these challenges.
	The final session in the Council programme focused on next steps following Copenhagen. The UK highlighted that it is in the EU's economic and environmental interests to show leadership, and the shared objective now should be to broaden, deepen and strengthen the commitments made in Copenhagen, and quickly to take forward the actions necessary to deliver the promises on finance that we made in the Accord. The EU should encourage more countries to associate themselves with the Accord, maintaining the momentum towards a legal framework. An exchange of views followed on the target that the EU should submit to the Accord appendix by January 31. The presidency concluded that while support was lacking for an unconditional offer of 30 per cent. the EU would need to find a formulation that underlined the EU's willingness to move to 30 per cent. in the right circumstances.